Food, family and memories are as intertwined in the South as if woven on the same thread. At any function we attend, from a party to a wedding to a funeral, we are as likely to talk as much about the food that was there, as we are about why we are gathered. ~Mary Foreman

I'm your cook, not your doctor. ~PAULA DEEN

I found out what the secret to life is: friends. Best friends. ~Ninny Threadgoode

Sunday, May 2, 2010

A beef roast is transformed in the slow cooker to a tender and delicious roast with incredibly tasty gravy, using Coca-Cola Classic and an envelope of onion soup mix. Great for chicken and pork too!

Crockpot Coca Cola Roast Beef

This roast beef made with good ole Coca-Cola, came about thanks to the great folks behind the Deep South Dish Facebook family who have given me encouragement to maybe step outside of the oven a bit and make use of this handy appliance. While I do have a scattered few slow cooker recipes up here, I have just never been a big user of one.

I put up a request for favorite crockpot recipes over on the Fan Page, bought myself a newer, slightly larger crockpot, blew the dust off of some old slow cooker cookbooks, and started getting some ideas. The first thing I made was a Carolina style barbecue pork that turned out fantastic - a South Carolina mustard sauce type of Carolina barbecue I am told. I must some day soon venture into those others versions as well don't you know - Eastern Carolina and Piedmont style Carolina sauce specifically - but at least I have a good pork recipe to use with them!

Next on the crockpot ventures was bound to be a roast. I happened upon a sale eye of round on my last trip to the market and it's the same kind of roast I use for my roast beef po'boys - one of the posts that generated this whole crockpot conversation to begin with. I figured it would be a fitting roast for the resuscitation of Slow Cooker Cooking in my home.

Cooking with all forms of soft drinks, and most especially coke, is definitely a popular southern thing - Coca Cola is an Atlanta based product after all - and cola products in general make their way into a lot of southern cooking and definitely on ham. What better way to have a roast? Feel free to substitute root beer or Dr Pepper also. Both make an equally delicious roast.

Though you can use any kind of roast with this, with the eye of round, the roast was not only flavorful, but tender and sliceable, without being chilled. Because I used a leaner roast this time, the pan drippings had virtually no fat, and made a great, spicy, sweet gravy The Cajun gave a big thumbs up.

By the way, you can use this same method on chicken, and it also makes a beautiful and tasty pork roast. Just substitute a similar sized pork loin and be careful not to take it too long, or else you'll end up with pulled pork. Somewhere between 2 to 4 hours, depending on your size roast, is usually all it will take.

1/4 cupself rising or all purpose flour and water to make a slurry for thickening

Instructions

Add roast to crockpot, sprinkle with onion soup mix and thyme; pour coke all around. Cover and cook on LOW for about 7 or 8 hours. Remove, and let stand before slicing.

While roast is resting, carefully transfer the hot pan drippings to a skillet. If you're using a higher fat content roast, you'll probably want to use a fat separator to skim off some of the fat first. Make a slurry by combing 1/4 cup of flour with just enough water to dissolve it. Mix the slurry completely so that there are no lumps. Whisk into the pan drippings and transfer to a hot burner, whisking constantly until mixture thickens. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes, whisking regularly.

Slice the meat and place on a platter; drizzle gravy on top of the meat and put the remaining gravy in a gravy boat for the table.

Cook's Notes: Add a can of cream of mushroom soup for a creamy gravy.

Variation: Stud the roast all over with slivers of raw garlic. Simply cut small slits into the roast in multiple spots, slipping a sliver of garlic into each. This roast is equally good with Dr Pepper or root beer. Can also use a similar sized pork loin, shoulder or butt and mixed, bone-in chicken. For a homemade substitute for onion soup mix, use 1-1/2 tablespoons of dried onion flakes, 1/2 tablespoon of beef base (like Better than Bouillon) or 1 tablespoon of granular beef bouillon, 1 teaspoon of onion powder and 1/8 teaspoon of some type of seasoned salt (like Lawry's).

For the Oven: Prepare as above in a baking or roasting pan, wrapping pan tightly with several layers of foil. For a 3 to 4 pound roast, bake in a preheated 325 degree F oven for about 3-1/2 hours, or until internal temperature reaches 145 degrees F for rare, 160 degrees F for medium or 170 degrees F for well done.

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I'm so happy to see someone comment who has actually tried the recipe! So many will comment on how good it looks.... well we already knew that! Sorry, if I seem rude, but this is not "all about me (or you)." It's about the recipes. just sayin....

During the December holidays, I do a Sirloin roast, I want to try the Coke Lipton roast.But, I am a diabetic and a a couple other family members are diabetics. So therefore what would it do to the recipe if I used diet coke? Would it change the good results too much to go diet coke? What think? Thanks so much for your thoughts. Retired school teacher who likes to cook, from Flint, MI area.

Hi! Haven't tried substituting diet cold drinks on any of my recipes that use soft drinks, however, I can say that several of my readers do and say that they work fine. I can't attest to it personally however. Hope you enjoy the roast & Happy Holidays!

I have done ham w/7 Up & brown sugar ... will have to try this recipe ... we don't eat much beef, but this sounds good and I'm going to try it ... I'm hungry just thinking about it (and this is my work cafeteria day ... bummer)

I made this recipe (sans the gravy) yesterday for our Christmas meal and it turned out FABULOUS! Now, we're both accomplished cooks in this house and never used canned soup, box mixes when we bake/cook, but having heard about the cola method for roasts and ham, I've been curious. I'd never seen a recipe also calling for the onion soup mix and since all store brands have MSG, we found a method to make our own. The roast turned out fabulous, and we made a reduction of the drippings. You really can't tell the slight sweetness comes from a can of coke! Thanks for sharing your recipe and I've bookmarked your page. I'll be back. ;)

Hey Folk's. She is 'absolutely' correct with the way this recipe works!I am a Southern Gentleman from Columbia, S.C & being as how the Sunday Supper-Time table setting has always been...I have had the honor on more than one occasion to have this placed in front of me. What she didn't tell 'Yall was the fact that from the moment the oven door, or Crock-Pot lid was opened, you could not help but start drooling from the wonderful aroma that filtered through the whole house.I'll never forget the 1st time we tried it,my Grandpa said that he liked the Co'-Cola (as we say it) Root Beer or Dr.Pepper idea so much, that he decided to smoke a few whole chickens that next weekend & what he did was stand the birds upright like they walk on the smokers grill, place a popped open can of Co' Cola in the seasoned birds cavity, & by using 6 whole chickens with a 6 pack, & the Onion Soup Mix seasoning...they were without a doubt, the Best I've ever had, & without the expected overly sweet taste that 'One might think they are going to experience. Believe Me. The person that describes this recipe, Knows exactly what she is talking about. In closing, If you want the Best Bar-B-Que sauce you've ever tasted, Contact Maurice's Piggy Park in West Columbia. It is a mustard base, yet you'll never taste the mustard. I send cases worldwide every year as gifts, & I have been eating it since 1955.

I made this with a sirloin tip roast and used one 10 oz. can of Coke which worked so well. The meat was fork tender and the gravy which I thickened with a corn starch slurry tasted awesome! Will definitely make again.

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